Trump-Appointed Judge Cannon Faces Pressure to Recuse in Classified Docs Case
Submitted by MAGA
Posted 89 days ago
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, faces pressure from fellow judges to recuse herself from the classified documents case against former President Donald J. Trump.
In an unprecedented move, two fellow federal District Court judges attempted to push Judge Cannon to hand off the case to another judge. One of the judges involved in the intimidation effort was the Southern District of Florida chief judge, Cecilia M. Altonaga, who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush.
Judge Altonaga's husband, attorney George Mencio, has made extensive contributions to the Bush family's political operations, suggesting the couple have a more Republican establishment-aligned and anti-Trump mentality. The other judge mentioned in a report on the matter by The New York Times was not identified by name.
The campaign to encourage Judge Cannon to hand off the case began when the unidentified District Court judge called her regarding concerns about the security of the classified documents. At the time, Judge Cannon's Fort Pierce courthouse lacked a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which is required to review classified materials. However, the courthouse was subsequently outfitted with a secured space.
After the unidentified judge made the initial attempt, the effort to push out Judge Cannon escalated to the District Court’s chief judge. In an extraordinary move, Judge Altonaga called Cannon and is said to have informed her that overseeing the case would be bad optics for the court. She allegedly noted Judge Cannon’s intervention during the initial investigation and appointment of a special master to review the documents and determine if executive privilege applied to them was a problem from her view.
The nearly unprecedented attempt to intervene in the Biden DOJ special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of the former President appears to add further credence to Trump’s interference claims. Judge Cannon has been a harsh critic of Smith’s aggressive tactics, noting he has—on several occasions—engaged in ethically and legally dubious behavior.
On numerous occasions, the judge has taken Smith to task for his unprofessionalism and arrogance. Meanwhile, in May, Judge Cannon indefinitely suspended the trial date after Smith acknowledged that investigators may have tampered with and mishandled some classified materials by adding cover sheets, among other actions.
Judge Cannon has also questioned whether Attorney General Merrick Garland is supervising Jack Smith. The questioning came at the end of a five-hour hearing focused on a long-shot effort by Trump to have the charges against him thrown out. Smith has accused Trump of hoarding national secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate after his presidency and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
Trump contends that Smith’s appointment by Garland as special counsel in November 2022 is unconstitutional and that Smith lacked the legal authority to bring the case against the former president. Though other courts have uniformly swept aside similar challenges to the validity of special counsel appointments, Cannon — a 2020 Trump appointee to the bench — scheduled lengthy oral arguments on the matter, a sign that she was taking it seriously.
The intense scrutiny of the case by Judge Cannon has caused head-scratching in the legal community and drawn renewed criticism of her handling of the sensitive case. However, her actions have also been praised by those who believe that the case against Trump is politically motivated and that the former president is being unfairly targeted.
The case is set to continue with further hearings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Judge Cannon will recuse herself from the case or continue to preside over it. Regardless of the outcome, the case is sure to be closely watched by those on both sides of the political spectrum.
Sources:
cnn.com
thenationalpulse.com
webcache.googleusercontent.compolitico.com
In an unprecedented move, two fellow federal District Court judges attempted to push Judge Cannon to hand off the case to another judge. One of the judges involved in the intimidation effort was the Southern District of Florida chief judge, Cecilia M. Altonaga, who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush.
Judge Altonaga's husband, attorney George Mencio, has made extensive contributions to the Bush family's political operations, suggesting the couple have a more Republican establishment-aligned and anti-Trump mentality. The other judge mentioned in a report on the matter by The New York Times was not identified by name.
The campaign to encourage Judge Cannon to hand off the case began when the unidentified District Court judge called her regarding concerns about the security of the classified documents. At the time, Judge Cannon's Fort Pierce courthouse lacked a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which is required to review classified materials. However, the courthouse was subsequently outfitted with a secured space.
After the unidentified judge made the initial attempt, the effort to push out Judge Cannon escalated to the District Court’s chief judge. In an extraordinary move, Judge Altonaga called Cannon and is said to have informed her that overseeing the case would be bad optics for the court. She allegedly noted Judge Cannon’s intervention during the initial investigation and appointment of a special master to review the documents and determine if executive privilege applied to them was a problem from her view.
The nearly unprecedented attempt to intervene in the Biden DOJ special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of the former President appears to add further credence to Trump’s interference claims. Judge Cannon has been a harsh critic of Smith’s aggressive tactics, noting he has—on several occasions—engaged in ethically and legally dubious behavior.
On numerous occasions, the judge has taken Smith to task for his unprofessionalism and arrogance. Meanwhile, in May, Judge Cannon indefinitely suspended the trial date after Smith acknowledged that investigators may have tampered with and mishandled some classified materials by adding cover sheets, among other actions.
Judge Cannon has also questioned whether Attorney General Merrick Garland is supervising Jack Smith. The questioning came at the end of a five-hour hearing focused on a long-shot effort by Trump to have the charges against him thrown out. Smith has accused Trump of hoarding national secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate after his presidency and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
Trump contends that Smith’s appointment by Garland as special counsel in November 2022 is unconstitutional and that Smith lacked the legal authority to bring the case against the former president. Though other courts have uniformly swept aside similar challenges to the validity of special counsel appointments, Cannon — a 2020 Trump appointee to the bench — scheduled lengthy oral arguments on the matter, a sign that she was taking it seriously.
The intense scrutiny of the case by Judge Cannon has caused head-scratching in the legal community and drawn renewed criticism of her handling of the sensitive case. However, her actions have also been praised by those who believe that the case against Trump is politically motivated and that the former president is being unfairly targeted.
The case is set to continue with further hearings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Judge Cannon will recuse herself from the case or continue to preside over it. Regardless of the outcome, the case is sure to be closely watched by those on both sides of the political spectrum.
Sources:
cnn.com
thenationalpulse.com
webcache.googleusercontent.compolitico.com
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